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Utah State UniversityDigitalCommons@USU
All Graduate Theses and Dissertations Graduate Studies
1-1-1969
Domestic Marital Role Expectations: AComparison of SIngle American and ChineseCollege StudentsI-fan TsoUtah State University
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Recommended CitationTso, I-fan, "Domestic Marital Role Expectations: A Comparison of SIngle American and Chinese College Students" (1969). AllGraduate Theses and Dissertations. Paper 2641.
DOMESTIC MARITAL ROLE EXPECTATIONS: A COMPARISON OF SINGLE
AMERICAN AND ClllNESE COLLEGE STUDENTS
by
I-fan Tso
A :thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree
of
MASTER OF SCIENCE
in
Family Relations
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Grateful appreciation is expressed to Dr. C. Jay Skidmore, major
professor; Dr. Jay D. Schvaneveldt and Professor Alice Colton Smith, my
graduate committee members; for their guidance and encouragement. Thanks
are also extended to Dr. Donald V. Sisson, Dr . Yun Kim , Professor Armand
L. Mauss , and Mr. Fred Miller, for their valuable help and advice. I am
especially indebted to the students in Tunghai University and Utah State
University, who cooperated with me on my questionnaire.
Finally, I want to thank Professor Ju-chi Hsi , my undergraduate
major professor , Mr . Yi-shiung Su and my parents. Without their help
and support the following study would have been impossible.
I-fan Tso
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
Statement of Problem Definition of Terms
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
PROCEDURE
Questionnaire Suqects Analysis of Data
RESULTS
The Hypotheses Personal Information and Family Background of the
Subjects in the Present Study
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS
Discussion
E(ypothes is 1 E(ypothesis 2 E(ypothes is 3
Conclusion
SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE STUDIES
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
APPENDIX
VITA
Page
1
2
4
12
12 13 15
18
18
21
34
34
34 35 36
44
46
47
51
57
LIST OF TABLES
Table
1. Arithmetic mean for all the sub-groups
2. Range and average age of male and female subjects in USU and Tunghai University
3. Size of community where male and female subjects at USU and Tunghai University were reared
4. Father's occupation of male and female subjects
Page
20
21
22
in USU and Tunghai University, grouped in nine categories 23
5. Mother's education of male and female subjects of USU and Tunghai University, grouped in nine categories
6. Father's education of male and female subjects of USU and Tunghai University, grouped in nine categories
7. Self-rated happiness of childhood of male and female subjects of USU and Tunghai University, grouped in five levels . . . . . . . . . .................. .
8. Parents' marital happiness as rated by male and female subjects of USU and Tunghai University , grouped in five
25
26
27
levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
9. Family financial status as rated by male and female subjects of USU and Tunghai University, grouped in five levels 28
10. Self-rated relationship with father by male and female subjects of USU and Tunghai University
11. Self-rated relationship with mother by male and female subjects of USU and Tunghai University
12 . Church membership of male and female subjects of USU and Tunghai University, grouped in six categories
29
30
31
LIST OF TABLES (Continued)
Table
13. The amount of domestic work that male and female subjects did at home, grouped in five levels.
14. Family dominance pattern as rated by male and female subjects of USU and Tungbai University , grouped in five levels
15. Mean score and standard deviation of the sub-samples
16. Comparison of mean score of nationality , attitudes toward domestic responsibilities and miscellaneous items . ..
17. Comparison of mean score of male and female attitudes toward domestic responsibilities and miscellaneous items . . . . . . . . . . ... . ...... . ... .
18 . Comparison of mean score of USU and Tunghai male attitudes toward domestic responsibilities and miscellaneous items
Page
32
33
38
40
41
42
ABSTRACT
Domestic Marital Role Expectations : A Comparison of Single
American and Chinese College Students
by
!-fan Tso- Master of Science
Utah State University , 1969
Major Professor: Dr. C. Jay Skidmore Department: Family Relations
The purpose of the study was to compare the anticipations of the
domestic marital role of single American and Chinese college students.
The respondents consisted of 158 Utah State University students, 88 male
and 70 female; and 135 Tunghai University students, 58 male and 77 female.
A questionnaire was devised to obtain their attitudinal responses,
using the F test. The critical level was 0 . 05. The findings seemed to
indicate that students of both sexes and nationalities tended to define
marital roles in the area of domestic responsibilities similarly. In
the majority of cases anticipated role for the husband was that of bread-
winner and for the wife that of homemaker though no responsibility was
considered as belonging to the wife alone, or the husband alone.
(63 pages)
INTRODUCTION
Statement of the Problem
Culture is the way of life of a society. It includes pa tterned
behaviors, knowledge, and attitudes which its members share. Though
every society has its own culture, the family is the basic unit of culture
in all parts of the world. In World Revolution and Family Patterns, Goode
(1963 , p. 1) indicated that fam ily systems today around the world seem
to be toward " . . fewer kinship ties with distant relatives and a greater
emphasis on the 'nuclear' family unit of couple and children. "
In the past, role differentiation followed sex lines. The husband
usually took the instrumental role and the wife the expressive role.
Urbanization , industrialization , and the employment of wom en are chang
ing the roles which were traditionally defined. Blood, a family sociolog
ist (1964), expressed the view that when the marital roles are performed
in accordance with the other spouse's expectations , the fee lings are
positive, leading to marital adjustment and personal ease, and vice versa.
The author was interested in finding out what attitudes young
people have toward division of labor and the difference in role expectations
of single co.llege students in the East compared with those of college stu
dents in the West , as the knowledge of this area was very limited.
2
Three hypotheses we r e set up to mee t this purpose :
1. American college students, male and female , tend to
emphasize sharing the fulfillment of selected domestic
responsibilities more than do to their counterpar ts at Tunghai
University.
2. Female students tend to emphasize sharing more than do the
male student in their attitudes toward selected domestic
responsibilities at both universities .
3. American male students tend to expect involving themselves
more in the selected domestic responsibilities in their future
marriages with their future spouses than do their counter
parts at Tunghai University.
Definition of Terms
The following terms were defined as they apply to the present study:
Marital role: the part played by a husband or a wife in a marriage;
a collection of rights and duties of a husband or a
wife. In this study the role refers to the duties
only.
Division of labor: It refers to the performance of family
responsibilitiE's.
Domestic responsibility: a formal organizational role held by
a member of a family. The responsibilities include
the care of children, housekeeping tasks , manage
ment of finance, and arrangement of family social
life .
3
Instrumental role : the part performed by the father as a bread
winner and his concern with relations of the family
to the external society .
Expressive role : the part performed by the mother as an emotional
supporter, and tension reliever, and her conce rn with
the solidarity of the family.
Role expectation: the anticipation toward the part that a husband
or a wife may play.
Nuclear family : a group consisting of a husband , a wife , and their
children.
Extended family : a social group consisting of at least two generations ,
related by descent , marriage, or adoption.
Broken home: the family in which the parents' marital status
is (1) separated but not divorced, (2) divorced,
both remarried , (3) divorced , neither remarried ,
(4) divorced and mother remarried , and (5) di
vorced and father remarried.
4
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Most studies dealing with marital roles indicate that household
responsibility is an important area for the maintenance of the family .
Various terms have been used to describe the area and the tasks which
are a part of marital role performance. Task performance, homemak-
ing responsibilities , household duties, housekeeping responsibilities , and
domestic tasks , are terms commonly used. In the work of Parsons and
Bales (1955), the term division of labor , was used to describe the appropri-
ate functions of husbands and wives. This concept originally came from
Durkheim (1960) . To him the division of labor was the chief source of social
solidarity . Parsons and Bales (1955) accepted this idea and applied it to the
family; however, tllis is intended to describe roles in decision making rather
than task execution. Blood (1964, p. 270) defined division of labor somewhat
differently:
The division of labor in the home is concerned with the division of responsibility between husband and wife for the tasks involved in running a home. Marridge is also profoundly affected by the nature of the couple's participation in the division of labor outside the home, that is , in the occupational system
Bowman (1965) , Christensen (1958 ) and Leslie (1967), however,
have stated they have 0bserved that in the past there has
always been a clear-cut division of labor by sex in all societies . The
husband usually is the breadwinner and the wife takes care of the house-
hold responsibilities except the heavy outside tasks. This is rooted in
biological differences and is re inforced by the particular cultures involved .
In the United States, Nye and Hoffman (1963, p . 7) indicated that
"Census data show a steadily increasing proportion of women in paid em -
ployment over a sixty -year period. " This is t he period from 1900 to 1960.
He also repor ted that as household responsibilities have to be taken care of and
in a modern industrial society, cheap labor is not easily available, husbands
are often drafted into domestic service. As a result, husbands of wor king
wives usually do more housework than husbands of non -working wives .
Some couples make this t r ansition smoothly but others experience
difficulties along the way. However , that a more flexib le division of
labor, a more equalitarian relationship so far as domestic position is
concerned is emerging is supported by Axelson ( 1963), Nye and Hoffman
(1963), Hill (1964) , Bowman (1965), and Christensen (1958). Parsons and
Bales (1955, p. 339) holds an optimistic point of view toward this trend:
. . . sex roles are both holding to and breaking away from tradition. Though this is a time of great transition, the changes are accomplished by a certain amount of continuity and stability.
Others, like Landis (1965) and Bowman (1965), feel that the role
conflict is inescapable. Axelson (1963, p 195) even points out that :
The movem ent of the wives into the labor market has obvious ly not been made without some cost in satisfactory interpersona l adjustment. The husbands of working wives indicate a significantly greater amount of poor marital adjustment.
6
In analyzing Nye's general finding of poor marital adjustment when
the wife is working, Axels on (1963, p. 193) indica tes that:
Approximately 60 per cent of the husbands of nonworking and part-time working wives indicated good marital adjustment while only 38 per cent of wives employed full time indicated good adjustment . when the comparison is made only between husbands of non-working wives and those whose wives work full time, the difference between the better and poorer degrees of marital adjustment, becomes statistically significant.
To ease the adjustment, Landis (1965, p . 89) suggests that boys
should be encouraged to show an enthusiasm in household responsibilities:
the adolescent boy's inter es ts should not a ll be channeled into vocational preparation; some s hould be channeled toward home, family , and parenthood.
Some studies of mar ital roles with respect to division of labor
and expectations of it have been conducted for the same purpose:
Dunn (1960) used a Marriage Role Expectation Inventory to test
a group of high school students. Later Moser (19 61) used the same
inventory to test another group of high school students. The results of
the se two studies s howed that there was a general trend toward equalitarian
relationships in the future families in the United States. Sex of the students
was found closely related to the differenczs in their marriage role expecta-
tions. Between the two studies, Dunn's sample seemed to favor a fus ed
divis ion of labor instead of a clearly defined one. She also found that
female students expected to take more household r esponsibilities than
the male students expected them to. The majority of both sexe s ex
pected to take more hous ehold r esponsibilities, especially if the wife
worked outside the home. The endorsement of equalitarian norms was
least noted in the two areas that were most c lear -cut in the older male -
7
dominated family system - those specifying tha t the husband should be
the breadwinne r and the wife should be the homemaker . Love joy's (1961)
study of Wa shington State University students showed that sex roles in
the family today are not so clearly defined as they once were and showed
that both men and women believe that decision-making in the fa mily , in
cluding hous ehold tasks, should be a joint matter . He also indicated that
" In all instances the female felt that decis ions should be joint ones to a
greater extent than did the male." (Lovejoy , 1961, p . 45)
Dyer and Urban (1958) used a group of Mormon students as their
s ubjects. They found that the r e was less agreement on marital roles
between single men and women students than between married students.
They also found that single men expected to take care of financial affairs
except in the area of spending for family necessities. Fused division , how
ever, was evidenced in the area of household responsibilities . Single
men expected to help their future spouses with the laundry, and dish
washing, and single women expected to help their future spouses with
heavy work around the house.
Mortz (1950) found that among the married college students,
husbands and wives tend to define marital roles in much the same way.
Husbands are expected to be concerned with meeting their wives'
personality needs and to carry their share of household, parental, and
social responsibilities. The wives are expected to be subordinate to
their husbands and to concentrate on the care of husband , children, and
home.
8
Geiken (1964) revised Dunn's Marriage Role Expectation Inventory
into a Family Responsibility Inventory and us ed it to test two selected
samples. Among the three aspects of marital r oles, authority patterns,
child care tasks and housekeeping responsibilities, housekeeping re
sponsibilities are the least shared. The extent of sharing was greater
in t hose families in which wives worked fulltime. The findings among
high school s ubjec ts showed that the housekeeping tasks would be the
least shared and that girls generally expected that household responsi
bilities s hould be shared to a greater extent than did the boys.
Studies in three dissertations used single college students as
subjects. McCarrey (1960) found that young m en expected to share
the household responsibilities with their future spouses and to have
the wives work outside the home. Gould (1962) found that among his
subjects sex was the only variable significantly mlated to marriage
role expectations. Male students expected their future spouses to take
care of mos t of the household responsibilities, limiting their own roles
to outdoor and heavy household work. He also reported similar results
to those found in Geiken's (1964) study: housekeeping taks are the
responsibilities least expected to be shared . Bodarky (1960) inter
viewed fifty students at University of Florida , 25 male and 25 female.
He found that the students were realistic in their appraisal of their
anticipated marriage roles except in the control of money. More than
half of the students expressed their wish for a relationship of sharing
in their future families.
9
The study of Blood (1965) in the De troit area and sout-eastern Michi
gan is one of the most extensive to be completed. They found that there is a
sharp division of labor along traditional sex lines: Husbands take care of a
few outdoor and heavy tasks and leave the rest oi the house hold taks to
their wives. Though highly specialized, the families were considered
to be equalitarian because both husbands and wives participated in
household responsibilities. The higher the income of the husbands
the fewer the household responsibilities they performed and the more their
wives performed. They also found that the roles of husband and wife
in farm families were different than those in urban families . To learn
if this conclusion could be generalized for other areas, Burchinal and
Buader (1965) made a study in Des Moines and in several small towns
10
and rural areas in Iowa . Their results showed that some roles show
highly sex-stereotypedpatterns for husband-wife division of labor. This
agreed with the findings of Blood and Wolfe . The part that was different
from the findings of Blood and Wolfe was that " . null differences
in husband-wife role prevail among families living in different residential
strata in Iowa. " (Burchinal and Bauder , 1965, p. 530)
Cross-culturally , three studies were conducted continuously. All
of them used college students as their subjects. Arkoff, Meredith , and
Dong (1963) found that the marital role attitudes of the Causasian-Ameri
can males and females were not significantly different from each other.
The Japanese-American females were not significantly different from
females of the Causasian-American group . But, " . . . the Japanese
American males were found to be more male-dominant in their con
ception of marriage than the Japanese-American female , Causasian
American female, and the Caucasian-American male." Arkoff , Meredith ,
and Iwahara (1964) increased the scope of the research of Arkoff,
Meridith , and Dong (1963) by adding some Japanese subjects from Nara
Gakugei University and Yokohama National University. The results s howed
that both the Japanese female and the Japanese-American female had
equalitarian attitudes toward marriage . The Japanese m ales and the
Japanese-American males were more male dominant, with the latter
notably higher. The Japanese-American fe males were significantly less
equalitarian than the other females and the Japanese females were the
highest so far as the equalitarian attitudes were concerned . Kalish ,
Ma loney , and Arkoff (1966) further extended the research of Arkoff ,
Me redith , and Iwahara (1964) further by adding some subjects from
California State College at Los Angeles with the belief that those sub
jects would be less influenced by the traditions of Japan. Males tended
11
to be more male dominant in marriage role attitudes and Japanese-Ameri
can males in Hawaii seemed notably high in this regard.
Except the study conducted by Kalish, Maloney, and Arkoff
(1966) , all the studies above were conducted in the United States . A
r eview of literature indicates that though there were studies made of
marital roles in general, the ones dealing with household responsibilities
a re limited, particularly those of expectation toward household responsi
bilities . No study regarding domestic r e sponsibilities was found in Taiwan.
Cross -culturally , no study on this aspect has been located by the author .
When summarizing the findings, it became evident that much work needs
to be done in this area. Results of some studies appear to be contradictory.
An example of this would be that while McCarrey (1960, p. 3049) reported
that "premarital expectations are apparently somewhat romantically
realistic.", an opposite result was reported by Bodarky (1960).
Young men today seem to favor an equalitarian relationship and
a fused division of labor in the family with the tendency toward division
of labor in household responsibilities to be the least shared, while,
generally, sex was the independent variable.
12
PROCEDURE
In the present study the questionnaire was selected because it is
effective in giving information about a person's anticipation of future plans.
It was also selected because it facilitates data collection, which shows
subjects that are thousands of miles apart .
Questionnaire
A four-page questionnaire which consists of two major divisions ,
was used in the present study . Division 1 is composed of 36 items, which
can be further divided into four sub-groups:
1. General houseke eping tasks, 15 items ;
2. Family finance , 4 items;
3. Child care tasks , 12 items;
4. Miscellaneous responsibilities, 5 items.
The subjects were asked to express their opinions on each item by
circling one answer from the questionnaire: (1) husband alone, (2) husband
mostly , (3) both, (4) wife mostly , and (5) wife alone. Division 1 is the
scale used to test the hypotheses of the present study.
Section 2 of the questionnaire includes items of personal information
and family background. These items were expected to be the most important
influences on subjects' attitudes toward domestic marital role ex
pectations.
The questionnaire is based on a study made by Geiken (1964).
The reliability and validity of her inventory were not available in the
study but were appraised by the present author's graduate committee.
The original questionnaire was us ed in 1968 in a study of the
attitudes of American and Chinese subjects in the author's research
methods class. From the suggestions and recommendations of the
subjects, a study of literature in the field and of other tests, a revised
questionnaire was constructed. The revised questionnaire was then
presented to all the professors of the author's graduate committee
at Utah State University, Logan, Utah, for additional comments and
suggestions. Upon completion of this revision, the questionnaire
was mimeographed and prepared for distribution.
13
Approval of the project and assurance of support were obtained
from professors and instructors in the College of Arts and of Social
Sciences at Utah State University, at Logan, Utah, and of Tunghai
University, Taichung, Taiwan . Cooperation was promised by the head
residents of the following sororities: Alpha Chi Omega, Alpha Omicron Pi,
Chi Omega . Delta Delta Delta , Kappa Delta , and Sigma Kappa .
The questionaires were introduced in the following manner.
At Utah State University , Logan , Utah, the author
1. made personal visits to classes , explained the purpose of
14
the questionna ire, and solicited the cooperation of the students . Question
naires were then distributed.
2. Made visits to the Utah State University domitor ies , where
the purpose of the study was explained to the head residents, who were
asked to distribute the questionnaires to all single students
3. Made visits to the sororities on the campus of Utah State
University, explained the purpose of the study to the presidents, and
asked them to distribute questionnaires to the sorority members.
At Tunghai University mimeographed questionnaires were sent
by the author to Professor Ju-chi Hsi. He distributed them to professors
and instructors who explained the study to the students and r equested
their cooperation.
The questionnaires were filled out and returned to the individual s
who distr ibuted them. They were then returned to the author.
The total number of questionnaires distributed at Utah State Uni
versity was 400. The usable number returned to the author was 158 ,
88 male a nd 70 female. The total number of questionnaires distributed
at 'fungha i University was 300. The useable number returned to the
author was 135, 58 male a nd 77 female. All of the subjects were students
majoring in Education, Business, or Social Science , enrolled in the
school year of 1968.
It was assumed that the sample was representive of the students
of Utah State University although it was not a random sample. Many of
the completed questionnaires were not usable because of the following
reasons: (1) students classified as graduate , special, non-American,
non-Chinese , married , widowed , and divorced, (2) the questionnaires
filled out by students who had taken a class or classes in the are of
family life or child development were omitted because enrollment in
these c lasses would in all probability influence their attitudes, (3) since
Utah State University requires that students take 10 to 15 credits in
English, Family Life, Landscape , Architecture, Languages, Music ,
Philosophy, Plant Science , Speech, or Theatre Arts, and female stu
dents were very often enrolled in family life and child development
classes, cutting down considerably the number of possible female sub
jects , consequently visits to the domitories and sororities were made
to obtain sufficient usable questionnaires .
Analysis of Data
In section 1 of the questionnaire an arbitrary system of weights
ranging from one tc five was assigned to the response positions ranging
from husband alone, husband mostly , both, wife mostly, to wife alone.
15
A low total score indicated that the husband would be willing to pe rform
most of the domestic responsibilities, a nd a high total score indicated
16
that the wife would be willing to perform most of the domestic responsi
bilities. The lowest possible score on the 36-item scale was 36, which
meant that the husband would be willing to accept a ll the domestic
r esponsibility. The highest possible score on the 36-item scale was
108 , which meant that the wife would be willing to accept all domestic
responsibility. Scores nearest 108 were rated as expressing the most
positive attitudes insofar as willingness to share the domestic responsibility
with their future spouses.
Two steps were used to test the hypotheses.
As a first step, the F test was used to test the three hypotheses
and the results for hypotheses 1, 2, and 3 were computed. The 0. 05
leve l of s ignificance was selected for the critical level.
The three hypotheses were stated in null forms because "
it is bette r fitted to our statistical techniques . "as Borg (1963 ,
p . 32) suggested. As a second step , the mean scores of the 36 -items
as well as the mean scores of the four sub-groups were computed
separately in order to compare the differences evidenced between them.
The information from section 2 of the questionnaire was com
piled for tabulation. This compilation consisted of programming the
collected information on IBM cards. The cards were then sorted by
a sorting machine in order that the response of the subjects from Utah
State University as well as from Tunghai University could be obtained
and presented in the form of tables, as shown in the next chapter.
17
18
RESULTS
The Hypothes es
In the present study the statistical method used was F test.
The three major hypotheses and the F rated for each as presented below.
1. American college students, male and female , evidence no
difference in emphasis on sharing in the fulfilling of selected domestic
responsibilities in comparison with their counterparts at Tunghai
University.
2 . Female students at both universities evidence no difference
in their expectations toward domestic responsibilities as compared to
males .
3 American and Chinese male college students showed no
difference in their attitudes toward involving in the domestic re
sponsibilities in their future marraiges with their future spouses.
Results for the three hypotheses were:
Hypothesis 1, F Calc.
Hypothesis 2, F Calc.
4. 005
3.066
Hypothesis 2, F Calc. ; 12. 45
Since F 0. 95(1, 330) ; 3. 89, Hypothesis 1 and Hypothesis 3
were rejected. The indication is that a difference in attitude toward
19
fulfillment of selected domest ic responsibilities exists between Ameri
can college students and Chinese college students. Diffe rences were
a lso evident between American m ale students and Chinese male stu
dents insofar as involving themselves in domestic responsibilities with
their future spouses was concerned. Statistically , although re jection of
Hypothesis 2 is not proper, diffe r ences are indicated between female
and m ale s tudents.
Comparisons of attitudes of the students at Utah State University
a nd Tunghai University revealed that USU subjects differed from Tunghai
subjects in their atti tudes toward fulfillment of s elec ted domestic
respons ibilities; USU male subjects differed from Tungha i male subjects
insofar as their involving themselves in the domestic responsibilities
in their future marriages. Female subjects differ ed from the male
subjects in their expectations toward domestic responsibilities at both
universities. The ar ithmatic mean was computed for all USU subjects,
a ll the male subjec ts; all USU male subjects and all Tunghai male sub
jects . Results are given in Table 1.
The 36-item scale was divided into five categories of general
housekeeping tasks , child care, family finance, miscellaneous , and
male -oriented items. All the subjects , regardless of sex or nationality ,
preferred to have t he female taking care of general housekeeping tasks
and child care tasks most of the time. The Chinese subjects would have
20
Table l. Arithmetic mean for all the sub-groups
Sub-groups N Mean score
USU subjects (male and female) 158 120.792
Tunghai subjects (male and fe male) 135 122. 164
Fem ale subjects (USU and Tunghai) 147 120.263
Male subjects (USU and Tunghai) 146 121. 909
USU male subjects 88 120. 168
Tunghai male subjects 58 124. 549
the wife mainly taking care of family finance affair s while the American
s ubjects preferred the male to take care of it mostly. For all the s ub-
jects, husbands wo uld m ainly decide wher e the family will live and make
dec is ions affecting the family as a whole while the wife would mainly
take care of buying gifts for holidays and birthdays for the children,
relatives , a nd fr iends. Setting social dates with other couples for the
USU subjects is a respons ibility mainly for the wife but the opposite view
was held by Tunghai subjects.
Personal Information and Family Background of the Subjects in the Present Study
21
In the present study attitudes toward domestic responsibilities of
88 American male students, 70 American female students, 58 Chinese
male students , and 77 Chinese female students, were compared. A
total of 99 American students and 100 Chinese students were in the 18-,
19-, or 20- year age group. Table 2 presented the range as well as the
average age of male and female subjects in USU and Tunghai University .
Table 2. Range and average age of male and female subjects in USU and Tunghai University
usu usu Tunghai Tunghai male female male female
Youngest 20 20 19 20
Average 23 23 22 25
Oldest 30 29 25 31
Table 3 indicates that 73 per cent of USU male and 61 per cent of
USU female were born and raised in rural area and towns which consisted
of populations from 2, 500 to 20 , 000 people. Among the subjects at Tunghai
University, 52 per cent of male subjects and 68 per cent of female subjects
were raised in city or large city which consisted of populations from 20,000
to 100, 000 people or more. In comparison to male subjects, more females
Table 3. Size of community where male a nd female s ubj ects at USU and Tunghai University were reared
usu usu Tungha i Tunghai Community male female m ale female
size no. % no. % no . % no. % Rurala area 26 30 14 20 14 24 9 44
Townb 38 43 29 41 14 24 16 21
Cityc 14 16 19 27 10 17 18 23
Large city 10 11 8 11 20 34 34 44
Total 88 99 70 100 58 100 77 100
aUnder 2 , 500 people, open country , farm b 2, 500 people -- 20, 000 people r 20, 000 people --100, 000 people dMore than 100 , 000 people
22
were brought up in cities of 20 , 000 to 100, 000 popula tion and la rge cities
of over 100,000 population. Except for the Tunghai females, over 90 per
cent of USU subjects and Tunghai male subjects came from families in which
the parents had been marri ed only once . USU females had the highest
per cent (8. 5) of subjects who came from broken homes. The per cent
for the other three sub-groups were all below 3 per cent.
The parents of more than 20 per cent of the USU subjects had
businesses of their own while about 20 per cent of the parents of Tunghai
s ubjects were government employees . More Tunghai subjects than USU
23
subjects reported that their father's occupation was farming . Table 4
indicates that greater percentage of Tunghai subjects r eported that their
fat hers were deceased, or retired , or that they did not know their
fathers' occupations.
Table 4 Father's occupation of male and female subjects in USU and Tunghai Univers ity , grouped in nine categories
Father's Tunghai Tunghai
USU male USU female male female occupation number number number number
Unskilled or semi-skilled labor 3 0
Skilled manual labor 11 4 4
Semi -skilled white 11 6 5 5
Skilled white 6 2
Professional 11 9 5 10
Proprie tor 21 27 9 14
Government employee 12 14
Farm 2 6 15
Military service 11 6 4 3
Don't know deceased or retired 3 11
Total 88 70 58 77
The educational level of the parents in both samples was in
general higher among female subjects than among male subjects .
24
Tunghai females had the highest percentage of fathers whose educational
level was classified as graduate (43 per cent). They also had the high
est percentage (72 per cent) of fathers whose educational level was
classified as having som e college or above. USU females had the highest
percentage (66 per cent) of mothers whose educational level was classified
as having some college or above. Tunghai males had a fairly large group
of fathers (21 per cent) who had only graduated from the elementary
school. There were 17 per cent of Tunghai females' mothers whore
ceived professional school's education, which is the highest among the
four sub-samples. These findings are further specified in Table 5.
Most of the subjects considered childhood happiness as well
as the marital happiness or their parents to be above average. More
USU than Tunghai subjects (Table 7) graded their parents' marriage as
very happy in their childhood. More USU subjects as presented in
Table 8 considered their childhood to be Vfi'ry happy in comparison to
Tunghai subjects .
No USU or Tunghai subjects showed their family financial status
as very wealthy or very poor. Among the male Tunghai subjects, 21 per
cen t considered their families poor. More USU than Tunghai subjects
(Table 9) considered their families to be wealthy, the largest percentages of
ail sub-samples c lassified their families as of average financial status.
25
Table 5. Mother's education of male and female subjects of USU and Tunghai University , grouped in nine categories
Tunghai Tunghai Mother's USU male USU female male female education number number number number
Blank or "O" 0 2 8
Some 2
Elementary school graduate 3 19 11
7' 8, 9, grade 5 3 8 8
10, 11 , 12 grade 45 15 0 3
Some college 19 24 11 33
College graduate 13 17 7 8
Graduate 2 11
Professional school 2 0
Total 88 70 58 77
26
In Table 6 present information of the educational background
of the fathers.
Table 6. Father's education of male and female subjects of USU and Tunghai University, grouped in nine categories
Tunghai Tunghai Father's USU male USU female male female
education number number number number
Blank or "0" 0 2 3 0
Some 2
Elementary school graduate 4 12 6
7' 8, 9 grade 4 2 9 3
10, 11 , 12 grade 27 15 0 0
Some college 22 15 11 14
College graduate 14 15
Graduate 12 15 13 33
Professional school 0 4 13
Total 88 70 58 77
27
Table 7. Self-rated happiness of childhood of male and female sub-jects of USU a nd Tungha i Univers ity , grouped in five levels
Rating USU male USU female Tunghai Tunghai mal e fe male
no. % no. % no. % no . %
Very happy 28 32 29 41 14 24 22 29
Happy 43 49 27 39 32 55 34 44
Average 16 18 10 14 9 16 19 25
UnhaJ'l'~- 0 0 3 4 3 5 2 2
Very .mhappy 0
Total 88 100 70 100 58 100 77 100
Table 8. Parents' m arital happiness as rated by male and female subjects of USU a nd Tunghai University, grouped in five levels
Rating USU male USU female Tunghai Tunghai ma le female
no. % no. % no . % no. %
Very happy 35 40 31 44 22 38 24 31
Happy 27 31 16 22 13 22 33 43
Average 19 22 16 22 18 31 13 17
Un happy 6 6 5 9 4
Very unhappy 0 0 3 4
Total 88 100 70 100 58 100 77 100
28
Table 9. Family financial status as rated by male and female subjec ts of USU and Tunghai University, grouped in five levels
Rating USU male USU female Tunghai Tunghai male female
no. % no. % no. % no. %
Very wealthy 0 0 0 0 0 0
Wealthy 21 24 19 23 6 10 13 17
Average 64 73 48 69 40 69 62 81
Poor 3 3 4 12 21 2 3
Very poor 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 88 100 70 100 58 100 77 100
Table 10 indicates that USU females considered their relationship
with their fathers as very close. Female subjects, in general. had a
higher percentage in the "very close" group. Table 11 shows that over
half of the Tunghai subjects, both male and female, felt that they were
very close to their mothers.
29
Table 10. Self-rated relationship with father-by male and female sub-jects of USU and Tunghai University
Rating USU male USU female Tunghai Tunghai male female
no. % no. % no . % no. %
Very close 22 25 22 31 15 26 20 26
Close 30 34 20 29 25 43 34 44
Average 25 28 18 26 12 21 15 19
Distant 5 6 5 2 3 4 5
Very distant 2 3 2 5
Not involved 4 5 3 4 2 3
Total 88 100 70 100 58 100 77 100
30
Table 11. Self-ra ted r e lationship with mother - by male and female subj ec ts of USU and Tunghai Unive rsity
Ra ting USU male USU female Tunghai Tunghai male female
no. % no. % no. % no . %
Ve r y clos e 24 27 25 36 33 57 48 62
Close 40 4 5 20 29 19 33 22 29
Average 21 24 20 29
Distant 3 3 3 2 0 0
Very distant 0 2 3 0 0 0 0
Not involved 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
I a m not s ure 0 0 0 0 0
Total 88 99 70 100 58 100 77 100
Table 12 indicates that over one-half of the USU subjects we r e
a ffiliated with the LDS Church. Over one-half of the Tunghai subjects
had no religion of their own. Of the remaining USU and Tunghai sub-
jects the second largest group was Protestant and the third was Catholic .
31
Table 12. Church membership of male and female subjects of USU and Tunghai University, grouped in s ix categories
Church USU male USU female Tunghai Tunghai membership male female
no. % no. % no. % no. %
Catholic 14 16 4 6 9 11 14
Jewish 0 0 0 0
Protestant 16 18 12 17 11 19 24 31
LDS 50 57 47 67 0 0
Buddism 0 0 3 5 12
Other 2 2 4 6 2 0 0
None 4 5 3 4 38 66 32 42
Total 88 100 70 100 58 101 77 100
Table 13 seem s to indicate that more USU subjects than Tunghai
subjects did domes tic work at home. Both USU and Tunghai female
subjects had a fairly high percentage who classified themselves as
belonging to a group who did a below average amount of domestic
work at home. Tunghai and USU male subjects considered the domestic
work they did at home to be average.
32
Table 13. The amount of domestic work that male a nd fema le s ubjects did at home, grouped in five levels
Rating USU male USU female Tunghai Tunghai male female
No. % No. % No . % No. %
Excessive 3 3 3
More than average 16 18 10 14 12 5 6
Average 57 65 37 53 29 50 26 34
Below average 11 13 21 30 17 29 34 44
Completely lacking 4 10 13
Total 88 100 70 99 58 100 77 100
Table 14 seems to indicate tha t more ma le subjects came from
fam ilies in whic h the father was definitely the dominant individual.
USU subjects had a higher percentage of families in which neither the
father nor the mother was dominant in comparison to that of Tunghai
subjects. The families where father te nded to be dominant comprised
the largest group of Tunghai subjects.
Table 14 . Family dominance pattern as rated by male and female subjects of USU and Tunghai University , grouped in five levels
33
Rating USU male USU fema le Tunghai Tunghai male female
No . % No. % No. % No. %
Father was definitely the dominant 18 20 10 11 19 12 one
Father tended to be dominant 24 27 16 23 19 33 26 34
50 -50 32 36 31 44 14 24 26 34
Mothe r tended to be dominant 9 10 9 13 12 9 12
Mother was de finitely the dominant one 3 2 3
I a m not sure 2 2 6 10 6 8
Total 88 98 70 100 58 100 77 101
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS
Discussion
Hypothesis 1
The results of the F test indicated that a difference existed be
tween the subjects tested at Utah State University and those tested at
Tunghai University insofar as their attitudes toward sharing in the ful
fillment of selected domestic responsibilities were concerned. The
results listed in Table 1 further indicated that the subjects at Utah
34
State University seemed more willing to share the selected family
responsibilities with their future spouses than the subjects at Tunghai
University. The reason for this difference may be that Chinese families
are traditionally patriarchal. Men worked outside of the home and
women worked inside. Apparently, male help in the area of domestic
responsibilities is due to the influence of the western society, and
only recently a fused division of labor has begun to emerge. The
foremost reason that the fused division of labor appears is that in an
industrial society " . . When time gets short, both partners are
pressed into service to the extent of their ability and availability. "
(Blood, 1964, p . 274) Another reason is that in modern marriage
companionship is emphasized as Blood (1964) indicates . Since the
35
trend toward women working outside the home is less advanced in Taiwan ,
and since domestic help , which is not costly, is more easily obtainable
than in the United States , wives are abl e a nd available to handle the
domestic responsibilities without the necessity of involving their
husbands in the performance of those responsibilities.
Hypothesis 2
Though the mean score differences for sex are smaller than
those for nationalities, the results in Table 1 a lso indicate that the
female subjects a t both universities expected to share the selected
dom estic responsibilities with their future spouses to a greater ex
tent than did the male subjects. The reason may be that as the sexes
are becoming more nearly equal in opportunity and more nearly a like
in function. In order to endow wom en with the freedom to seek their
personal fulfillment outside the hom e, m en find themselves faced
with the necessity of taking over some of the domes tic responsibilities
which the culture in whic h they were reared originally defined as
feminine. Many men find little satis faction in helping with household
responsibilities because of this attitude. On the othe r hand , even
though some women can assum e complete responsibilities in the do
m estic area, some help from their spouses would give them a mor e
secure feeling of equality with their husband. For this reason they
are more sensitive and more willing to share the responsibilities
with thei r spouses .
36
Hypothesis 3
The majority of American families are nuclear . This means
that when the wife is working the husband in the American family is
often forced to help in performing household responsibilities . Fami
lies in Taiwan, however, very often consist of three generations . For
those Chinese families which do not have domestic help outside the home,
grandparents share many child care tasks as well as housekeeping
responsibilities.
Competition for entering high school as well as universities is
much stronger in Taiwan than in the United States. As domestic help
is not difficult to obtain, parents in Taiwan usually do their best to
relieve their children of domestic responsibility . This situation may
account for the fact that when 20 per cent of the male subjects (Table
9) of Ttmghai graded the family financial status as poor only 14 pe r
cent (Table 13) reported that they did more than average domestic
work at home. In the United States helping at home is common , and
children get this type of training when they are young. In a way this
offers them a better opportunity to face the reality of home living than
that given Chinese students. Table 13 also indicates that in the present
study 86 per cent of USU subjects in comparison with only 68 per cent
of '!'unghai subjects reported that they had done at least an average
amount of domestic work at home . This may be the reason why the
37
American male students expect to involve themselves more in domestic
responsibility in their future families than their counterparts at Tunghai.
Though generally age is considered an index of maturity it does
not necessarily follow that those who are older are more mature and
that they are more realistic as far as their expectation toward domestic
responsibility is concerned. Therefore, even though Table 2 shows
that the average age of all the Chinese subjects (23. 5 per cent) were
older than all the American (23 per cent) , it is doubtful if the age can
be used as a factor to explain the small differences in mean score
between the sexes and between the nationalities . Religious affiliation
and place of rearing of the subjects may also represent bias factors,
but this subject has not been treated in the present study. However,
as a few extreme cases can bias the average sharply , the standard
deviation in Table 21 did offer some empirical explanation about the
small differences of the average mean scores between the sexes and
nationalities.
According to Table 15, Tunghai males showed the largest
standard deviation in mean score. Tunghai females showed the
second largest standard deviation. The conclusion can be drawn
that in the present study more Tunghai subjects than Utah State
University subjects have extreme attitudes both ways. While
some of the Tunghai subjects felt that some selected domestic re
sponsibilities should be handled by husband a lone others felt that
38
Table 15. Mean score and standard deviation of the sub-samples
Sub-samples Mean score Standard deviation
USU males 120. 168 6.845798
USU females 121. 577 4. 697385
Tunghai males 124. 549 9.245519
Tunghai females 120.367 7.476479
they should be handled by wife alone while the subjects at Utah State
University expressed similar attitudes toward who should take care
of these responsibilities.
Another factor which may have had some influence on the average
mean score of the 36 -item scale for the sub-groups is that the total
items of general housekeeping tasks, family finance , child care tasks ,
and miscellaneous are not equal. Consequently the categories which
consist of more items influenee the total score of the 36-item scale
more than the categories which consist of only a few items. When the
average mean scores for different sub-groups were computed and then
divided by the number of items in the category, different attitudes to
ward different categories were found between the two different nation
alities, and the sexes, and between the male subjects of Utah State Uni
versity and the male subjects of Tunghai University. (See Tables 16,
17 , and 18 . ) The reason for these differences is that in pure sharing,
the attitudes can be expressed in two ways. One of them is that the
subject expects to take care of ha lf of the selected domestic r esponsi
bilities all by himself (or herself) and the other is that he (or she)
expects to share all the responsibilities with his (or her) future spouse.
Either way , the total score for the 36 items should be 108. When 108
is divided by 36, the result is 3 points . In using 3 points as an index,
it was found that in comparison with the subj ects at Tunghai University,
the American s ubjects at Utah State University , male and fema le,
tended to emphas ize sharing only in the area of child care tasks and
setting of social dates with other couples . They expressed the attitude
that the general housekeeping tasks, buying holiday and birthday gifts
for the children , relatives , and friends should be mainly the wife's
responsibility and family finance , deciding where the family will live,
as well as decisions affecting the family as a whole should be mostly
decided by the husband . The subjects at Tunghai University seem ed to
emphasize sharing in the area of general housekeeping tasks and buying
holiday and birthday gifts. Family finance and decisions affecting the
family as a whole s hould be mostly the wife 's responsibilities . The
wife should also have more to say about the decision of where the
family is to live . Setting social dates with other couples, however,
s hould be decided mainly by the husband.
39
Table 16. Comp~.rison of mean score of nationality , attitudes toward domestic responsibilities and miscellaneous items
Responsibilities
General housekeeping tasks
Family finance
Child care tasks
Male oriented itemsa
Deciding where the family will live
Decision affecting the family a s :1 whole
Buying gifts for holiday and b irthday for the children, relatives , and friends
Setting social dates with other couples
aThose tasks include:
usu (N = 158)
3. 718.
2.726
3. 265
2.349
2.72
2. 97
3.47
3. 09
1. planning how to use the money , 2 making repairs on household equipment, 3. emptying the garbage, 4. being concerned with politics and world affairs.
Tunghai (N = 135)
3. 611
3. 198
3. 9
2.566
2. 9
3.01
3.33
2. 65
40
These were the items which stand out as strongly male oriented in the present study .
Table 17. Comparison of mean score of ma le and female attitudes toward domestic responsibilities and miscellaneous items
Responsibilities
General housekeeping tasks
Family finance
Child care tasks
Male oriented itemsa
Deciding where the family will live
Dec is ions affecting the family as a whole
Buying gifts for holiday and birthday for the children, r elatives, and friends
Setting social dates with othe r couples
a Thos e tasks include:
Male (N=146)
3.691
2. 896
3.325
2.424
2.76
2.97
3 . 4
2.82
1. planning how to use the money 2 making repairs on household equipment 3. e mptying the garbage 4 . being concerned with politics and world affairs.
Fema le (N=147)
3.641
2.991
3.32
2.471
2.83
3.00
3. 41
2. 95
41
These were the items which stand out as strongly male oreinted in the present study.
Table 18. Comparison of mean score of USU male and Tunghai male attitudes toward domestic responsibilities and miscellaneous items
42
Responsibilities usu Tunghai male
General housekeeping tasks
Family finance
Child care tasks
Male oriented itemsa
Deciding where the family will live
Decisions affecting the family as a whole
Buying gifts for holiday and birthday for the children, relatives, and friends
Setting social dates with other couples
aThese tasks include:
(N=88)
3.695
2.708
3. 254
2.303
2.65
2.98
3.44
3. 12
1. planning how to use the money 2. making repairs on household equipment 3. emptying the garbage 4. being concerned with politics and world affairs.
(N=58)
3.703
3. 183
3.494
2. 609
2. 95
2. 97
3.35
2.36
These were the items which stand out as strongly male oriented in the present study.
According to Table 16, in the area of general housekeeping ,
family finance , decisions affecting the family as a whole , and setting
soc ial dates, female subjec ts tended to emphasize sharing more than
did the male subjects. Among those responsibilities, fema le s ubjects
seemed to feel that general housekeeping tasks and decisions affecting
where the family is to Jive are m ainly t heir responsibility rather
43
than that of their future husbands. Though they were willing to share ,
they agreed with the male subjects that fam ily finance , deciding where the
fam ily is to Jive, and setting social dates with other couples should be
mostly the husband's responsibility. The female subjec ts wished to
share more than the male subjects expected to in the area of planning
how to use the money, making r epairs on household equipment, empty
ing the garbage, and being concerned with politics and world affa i rs,
but the ir attitudes showed agreement with those of the male subjects
toward child care tasks and the buying of holiday and birthday gifts:
that they should be mostly taken care of by the wife.
Table 18 indicates that the male subjects at Utah Sta te University
tend to involve themselves more in general housekeeping tasks, child
care tasks and the setting of social dates than do their counterparts in
Tungha i. Though male subjects at both universities agreed tha t general
housekeeping tasks and child care tasks should be mostly the wife's
r esponsibility , the male subjects at Tunghai University disagreed with
their counterpa rts at Utah State Univers ity that the setting of social
dates should be mostly the responsibility of the husband rather than
that of the wife . They were also more willing to share the responsi
bilities of planning how to use the money, making of repairs on house
hold equipment, emptying the garbage, in being concerned with politics
and world affairs, and in deciding where the family is to live with their
future spouses than were the male subjects at Utah State University.
They seemed to prefer that the wife be responsible for family finance.
Male subjects at both universities seemed to feel exactly the same way
about decisions affecting the family as a whole; they felt that the hus
band should assume that responsibility mostly. Both agreed that buy
ing of holiday and birthday gifts should be mainly the wife's responsi
bility and most of the subjects seemed to prefer to have their future
spouses take care of the responsibility of setting social dates without
involving them too much in it.
Conclusion
In the present study when the average mean scores for the 36-
item scale were computed, the findings in Table 2 seemed to support
the hypotheses that:
1. American college students, male and female, tend to
e mphasize sharing in fulfillment of selected domestic
responsibilities more than do their counterparts at Tunghai
University.
2. Female students tend to emphasize sharing more than do
44
male students in their attitudes toward selected domestic
responsibilities at both universities .
3. American male students tend to expect involving them
selves more in the selected domestic responsibilities
in their future marriages with their future spounses than
do their counterparts at Tunghai University.
On the whole, students of both sexes and nationalities tended
45
to define marital roles in the area of domestic respons ibilities similarly.
For the majority, the appropriate role for the husband was that of bread
winner and for the wife that of homemaker. Except for a few male
oriented items, most of the items in the scale elicited attitudes showing
that the responsibilities should be of the wife's .
SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDIES
Suggestions for further development of the present study or one
of a similar nature are:
1. Use of the present hypotheses with larger and more hetero
geneous samples in order that results will not be limited for their
generalization.
2 Use of subjects who have been married for a period of time
46
to determine whether or not their expectations influenced the marital ad
justment.
3. Use of religious affiliation as an independent variable and
comparison of diffe rent religious group.
The author suggests that research need not be limited to the
expectations of the marital roles with respect to the division of labor
only . Studies seeking for similarity rather than differences as well
as studies with respect to decision making and power structure will also
be valuable.
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
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Axelson, Leland J . 1963. The marital adjustment and marital role definitions of husbands of working and nonworking wives . Marriage and Family Living 25(2):189-195.
Blood , Robert 0 ., Jr. 1964. Marriage. The Free Press of Glencoe, New York. 515 p.
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50
52
This study is being made in the interest of securing a nd understanding the marital role expectation of single college students. Your cooperation will be highly appr eciated.
Assume in your future family , both you and your spouse are going to work outs ide the home. Whom would you expect to perform these tasks? Please
circle. HA for husband alone Hm for husband mostly
HA HM B WA WM 1. HA HM B WA WM 2. HA HM B WA WM 3. HA HM B WA WM 4. HA HM B WA WM 5. HA HM B WA WM 6. HA HM B WA WM 7 . HA HM B WA WM 8. HA HM B WA WM 9. HA HM B WA WMlO. HA HM B WA WM 11. HA HM B WA WM12 .
HA HM B WA WM13. HA HM B WA WM14 . HA HM B WA WM15. HA HM B WA WM16. HA HM B WA WM17. HA HM B WA WM18 . HA HM B WA WM19 . HA HM B WA WM20. HA HM B WA WM21. HA HM B WA WM22 . HA HM B WA WM23.
B for both WA for wife a lone WM for wife mostly
Doing the grocery shopping. Making repairs on household e quipment. Doing the laundry P la nning the meals. Preparing the m eals . Doing the ironing. Doing the dusting. Keeping the clothes in repair. Drying the dishes. Washing the dishe s. Washing the windows. Serving the m eals or keeping the house orderly when we have guests . Rearranging the furni ture. Cleaning up after guests have le ft. Emptying the garbage . Managing the family's money matters. Paying the bills . Planning to use the money . Spending the money. Bathing a nd dress ing the children. Feeding the children. Spending time with the boys in the family . Stay ing home with the c hildren during part of the
weekend. HA HM B WA WM 24. Guiding the childre n's activities. HA HM B WA WM 25. Spending time with the girls in the family . HA HM B WA WM 26. Babysitting in the evening. HA HM B WA WM 27. Caring for the children when they are s ick . HA HM B WA WM 28. Decisions concerning the children , such as where
they will go and what they may do . HA HM B WA WM29 . Disciplining the children . HA HM B WA WM 30. To decide how m a ny children you are going to have . HA HM B WA WM 31. Shopping for clothes for the children. HA HM B WA WM 32. Being concerned with politics a nd world affairs .
53
HA HM B WA WM33 . Deciding where the family will live . HA HM B WA WM34. Decis ions affecting the family as a whole, such
as when meals a re served and when radio is turned on.
HA HM B WA WM35. Buying gifts for holidays and birthdays for the children , relatives , and friends .
HA HM B WA WM36 . Setting social dates with other couples.
Please answer all the following questions by either filling the blanks or circling one of the answers. Please do not sign your name and your identity in this project is protected.
Personal Information:
I. Date of birth: _____ (year)
II. Sex: 1 male 2. female
III. Nationality: 1. 2. 3.
IV. Year in college:
V. Marital status:
American Chinese Others
1. Freshman 2. Sophomore 3 . Junior
1. Single 2 . Married
VI. List the age of your brother(s).
4. Senior 5. Graduate 6. Special
3. Widowed 4. Divorced
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---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----List the age of your s ister(s).
VII. Your religious preference: 1. Catholic 5. Budism 2. Jewish 6. Other _______ (,please specify)
3. Protestant 7. None 4. LDS
VIII. In what size community did you live during your childhood ? 1. rural area (under 2, 500 people, open country, farm) 2. town (2, 500 people--20, 000 people) 3. city (20, 000 people--100, 000 people) 4. large city (more than 100,000 people)
IX. Have you eve r had doubts about your chance of having a successful marriage? 1. frequently 3. rarely
2. occasionally 4. never
X. ln the home in which you were reared do you feel that the domestic work you did was :
1. excessive 2. more than average 3 . average 4 . below ave rage 5. completely lacking
XL If you have competed a course or courses on this campus in child development and marriage or fam ily r e la tions please specify by title :
1. ______________________________________ ___
2 . 3 . 4 .
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Xll. How would y ou grade the happiness or unhappiness of your childhood? 1. very happy 2. happy 3 . average 4 . unhappy 5. very unhappy
Home and Parents
I. Your parents' pres ent marital status : if both are living now , if not. at time of death of one:
1. married only to eac h other 2. separated but not divorced 3. divorced , both remarried 4. divorced, neither remarried 5 . divorced and mother remarried 6 . divorced and futher remarried 7. mother remarried after father decea sed 8 . father remarried a fte r mother deceased 9 . other ------------------ (please explain)
ll. The number of years of education that your father completed
T he number of years of education that your mother completed
Ill. Describe your father's main occupation, ____________ _
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IV. How would you describe the dominance pattern between your father and mother in the home? (dominant: to make the decisions that concern the family as a whole) 1. father was definitely that dominant one 2. father tended to be dominant 3 . it was about 50-50 4 . mother tended to be dominant 5. mother was definitely the dominant one 6 . I am not sure
V. What is your relationship with your parents or step-parents at the present time? If you had a step-parent, check the one that you lived with since you were a child . (1) With your father (or step-father)
1. very close 2. close 3. average 4. distant 5. very distant 6. not involved (dead, separate , etc.) 7. I do not know
(with your mother (or stepmother) 1. very close 2. close 3. average 4 . distant 5. very distant 6. not involved (dead, separate, etc . ) 7. I do not know
VI. In regard to happiness in marriage , how would you consider your parents' happiness or unhappiness in marriage to be: 1. very happy 2. happy 3. average 4. unhappy 5. very unhappy
VITA
1-fan Tso
Candidate for the Degree of
Master of Science
Thesis: Domestic Marital Role Expectations: A Comparison of Single American and Chinese College Students
Major Field: Family and Child Development
Biographical Information:
Person Data: Born at Kuen Ming, China, March 5, 1943 , daughter of Chao-pu and Shen-gene Tso.
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Education: Attended elementary school in Hong Kong and Taipei, Taiwan; graduated from the Second Girls' Middle School , Taipei, Taiwan in 1961; received the Bachelor of Art degree from Tunghai University, Taichung, Taiwan , with a major in Sociology , in 1965; fulfilled the requirements for the Master of Science degree, specializing in Family and Child Development, at Utah State University in 1969.
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